A Tired Woman

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***

A little later after they arrived at their destination, Yomite and Barbara entered the Knights of Favonius headquarters with the goal of visiting the library. Once again, they were in this awful place Barbara was beginning to loathe.

Barbara silently followed behind him with her eyes focused forward, and as bad luck would have it, they immediately ran into Jean in the corridor.

"Hey, Jean. I think this is like the third time I ever saw you somewhere that's not in your office...It's weird to see you leave your hideout." Yomite said casually while greeting her.

"Greetings, Yomite I'm pleased to see you again. As you are aware, I am a very busy person; therefore, my profession allows me flexible working hours, and I like my office." she replied warmly, sneaking a glimpse at Barbara, who completely disregarded her presence.

She walked right past Jean without saying a word or acknowledging any sort of interaction with her whatsoever, straight into the library.

"Barbara..." Jean mumbled under her breath, obviously unamused by how coldhearted Barbara was towards her now.

Yomite had no idea what they had been discussing yesterday, but it was clear they were no longer on very good terms...

"...So, what were you doing out here?" Yomite asked curiously. "I figured you'd be holed up all day and night in your own office."

Jean laughed dryly at the fact that Yomite was right on the mark regarding the kind of person she was.

"I do have a life outside of my job, but working is what I love to do, in order to make the lives of people around me easier and happier." She paused briefly to take a deep breath before continuing, "Actually, I'm not sure if I should tell you this, but Lisa's been feeling quite unwell lately, so I am forced to take a few minutes of rest to take care of her..."

It bothered her greatly, seeing how out of energy her best friend was recently, as well as her own inability to help her much other than brewing a herbal tea and making a few snacks for her. She was afraid it had something to do with "that"...

"That's not great, I was just on the way to meet up with her." Yomite sighed.

It seemed that he might not be able to spend his time with her today after all.

"Oh don't worry about it," Jean waved off his concerns with ease, "I'm sure she would appreciate having someone else over instead of me anyway, just bear in mind she's not feeling well right now."

"Alright, you should have some rest as well. Don't just think about other people. Be selfish yourself for once." He smiled at her kindly while offering his words of advice.

"...I'll...try harder from now on." Jean replied stiffly, almost like an apology for her lack of effort.

"There is no 'trying harder' in resting. Just go to sleep." Yomite chuckled at her adorable behavior.

A workaholic like her needed proper rest to get through a long day; otherwise she'd only grow more exhausted and never-ending busyness would end up killing her first and foremost. If she couldn't properly relax then she wouldn't be able to perform even the most basic tasks when the time came.

"You're right," Jean nodded with a gentle expression, "I'll try to be less obsessed with my duties next time."

"Good, see ya later."

Yomite thanked her for the heads-up regarding Lisa's condition and headed into the library; he was looking forward to catching up with Lisa and talking with her again.

***

When he entered the library, he was greeted by the sight of Barbara standing beside a bookcase, leaning back against it and reading through the titles as if searching for something.

Ignoring her for a moment, he looked around the library and the sea of books.

And there she was, seated right beside the door, a pair of thick glasses resting on her delicate nose, an open book with many other books laying in front of her on the massive wooden desk.

Dozing off with her head resting over a hand and not even trying to hide it was Lisa, the librarian.

She didn't usually wear glasses from what he remembered, so this was a nice addition. Maybe she only used them for reading.

It appeared she was busy past few days and didn't catch a wink of sleep.

She must have fallen asleep while reading one of the books in front of her.

He felt bad having to wake her up, but he had some questions to ask.

He slightly nudged her elbow and whispered, "Lisa, wakey-wakey..."

She was startled for a moment, raising her head. She jarred her eyes and looked for the origin of that gentle, comforting voice.

She subtly stretched her mouth corners, wiping away a string of saliva with her wrist, and delicately flicked her tongue towards her lower lip.

Albeit still feeling a bit sleepy, she recognized the figure in front of her immediately.

"Oh, Handsome...Welcome..." She covered her mouth and let out a yawn.

"Damn...this is one tired woman..."

"Is there... something I can help you with? Did Jean send you? Hm? What's wrong?"

She had noticed that Yomite was gazing at her as if she was some sort of spectacle for people to stare at.

She didn't dislike it. She knew she was attractive, anyone with eyes could tell as much.

His gaze didn't bear any ill intent or any hint of lust, so she knew he was just appreciating her beauty, without being shy or awkward about it, and she respected that courage.

"Yep, I want you to train me again. I need to get stronger." He stated bluntly.

Her lips curled into a faint smile when she heard his plea; but she quickly lost the strength in them before she laid back down on the table again.

"...I apologize, but I'm not feeling well. Besides, I've other plans I have to attend to. My job is very important..."

She groaned softly, resting on the table like an over-fed cat sprawling on a sofa.

Her job was important...?

It wasn't very convincing though, considering how lethargic she looked.

Her face was pale and gaunt. The dark rings around her eyes were only visible because they stood out against her fair skin which was almost sickly looking right now.